QC 4 QuantumBrain

Although I went into work on Friday 31st July I still had a great time. Hey, that’s what I’m here for right? I did some physics, followed by some beer and topped off with a few rounds of ‘Outburst!’, the most heavily biased board game out there. If you’re English, you’ll probably win. I didn’t win, but that’s because I’m just rubbish. The rest of the night I spent reading Aboriginal myths and tales, fantastic book, thanks Jenna!

On Saturday I spend the whole morning hunting down ingredients and preparing for a dinner party. The menu was simple but effective. Effective being it served it’s purpose: being food and tasting good.

Starters…. Well I put out some Doritos and made some guacamole, does that count?

Main - Parsley, lemon and garlic marinated Salmon with mushroom and lemongrass risotto. All the ingredients I found at the Saturday West End market, super cheap and also super tasty. 

Dessert - Chocolate mousse topped with strawberries and gingerbread crumbs. Sounds yummy doesn’t it. It was. 

Making the mousse was the best part. I hadn’t done it since home-economics class 10 years ago. I dreaded the thought of over whisking the eggs so had an extra dozen on standby. That’s a tip by the way. The salmon cooked beautifully and everyone enjoyed it. I’m sure Sandro would have enjoyed his a lot more hadn’t he eaten rice with salmon the same afternoon… oh yeah, and the salmon he bought from the same guy. Note to self, surprise menus have risks.

On Sunday morning I woke up to a cold winter morning. I recently moved into an old, though very well kept, Queenslander. It’s a joy to be in traditional housing out here in Australia, and I’m sure I’ll appreciate the relief that the tall ceilings and wooden structures provide in the summer months, however, in the winter the place turns into a fridge. There was close to a 10*C temperature difference between inside and outside at midday today. I digress. I spent the morning shaving like a real man, utilising a real badger hair brush to apply shaving cream, thanks Sandro; drinking proper coffee made with my very own cafetiere, given to me my Marcelo and apparently to keep me up during my thesis hours; reading a few pages of Aldous Huxley’s ‘Perennial Philosophy’, excellent so far, cheers Jim; and when my mind drifted, it was usually in the direction of my new lava lamp, it is entrancing. I could spend many hours watching that thing, thanks Ben and Nia! So, I have been well looked after this year with many things to keep me occupied over the coming months. After which time I shall either discard your gifts or sell them on ebay.

Such was the spirit of the day no other activity could possibly have sufficed but frisbee. A short hop across the river and I was absorbing the golden rays of the Australian sun, warm enough for shorts and t-shirts, but not quite skin cancer territory. Simple pleasures. 

I’m back home now and to my horror have discovered that my lava lamp has taken a turn for the worse. It’s operational ambient temperature is standard room temperature which in normal people’s houses is 22*C. Of course I live in Australia now and we don’t have heating, double glazing or anything that could remotely discourage the transport of heat away from our homes. And so the wax just sits there at the bottom doing nothing. Perhaps it would serve better as a hot water bottle right now.

At the request of my sister Rebecca I am obliged to update my blog. I have been meaning to do it for a while, but anyone who casually writes a post from time to time and also happens to have a life will know it doesn’t feature high on the list most of the time. It’s a crying shame.

I’ll make if brief, no one likes a talker.

Science

Good. I am spending far too much time confined to dark air conditioned rooms which means I both fry and squint when I enter the outside world. I have managed to find a pair of goggles that block out both UV and IR, which is handy as I’m working with both. Currently (as in while I write this) playing with Second Harmonic Generation. Simple really, just shine a powerful IR laser at a little crystal and watch the light turn blue right before your eyes. Good lab tip - no goggles at all are better than the wrong ones. Wearing the wrong goggles might lend itself to complacent behaviour (thanks Sven).

Oh yeah, I’ve put my name down for academic tutoring. I will be given a few hours a week to vent my anger on unsuspecting undergraduate physicists (only kidding if any of you are reading this…..).

House

Found one. I’ll post some pictures when I have a camera to take them. It’s just on the other side of the river from main campus, about a 10 minute cycle ride. The place is called Woolloongabba. It’s pretty neat, the room has it’s own balcony (have set up hammock - sweeeeet) and ensuit, but lacks great views from either. I might invest in an air conditioner; it’s possible I won’t survive through February in the heat and humidity of Brisbane. I know what you’re thinking, ‘think about the environment!’. I do, which is why I cycle everywhere, have given up plastic bags and don’t own a car. There that makes me feel much better, although I did fly over to Australia (twice), the CO2 emissions don’t bear thinking about. So I don’t.

Life

Slow. Apart from a week long excursion to Adelaide which turned into a week long party in Adelaide, I’ve been out a few times to house partys, drinks and meals. I’ve not made any real friends outside of the group yet. Although the guys in the group are pretty damn social! Perhaps things will pick up when the dirty undergrads get back… hmmmm dirty undergrads. Perhaps I’m a little hard on myself having only been here for eight weeks.

I went to the Sunshine Coast today which is north of Brisbane about an hours drive away. The waves were huge but no good for surfing. I’ve discovered a new sport however, body surfing. No, actually body surfing. You use your body as a surfboard and swim like usual to catch a wave. It’s fun and sketchy - there were more people body surfing than boarding of any kind today meaning a lot of crashing and banging into one another.

Trivia

I thought it odd that Firefox did not recognise the name, or rather the spelling of it, Rebecca. The list of words it suggests are: Rebeka, Rebeca, Rebbecca and Rebecka. Interestingly non of them are common spellings of the name and they certainly don’t feature in the OED as having a meaning. The name is Hebrew in origin and is a variation of the original forms Rebekah or Rivkah, The name in Hebrew means ‘to bind’. It features in the bible most commonly as Rebekah. Rebekah was the wife of Abraham’s son Isaac and mother to both Jacob and Esau. Altogether there are 54 known variations on the name Rebecca and they can all be found here. A quick google (<– Firefox doesn’t recognise this even!) search of any variation on ‘Rebecca’ soon reveals that ‘Rebecca, my sisters preferred spelling, is the most common in western society.

I’ve now added the name to my Firefox dictionary and urge all those reading this to do the same.

I hope this clears a few things up.

… they need your support.

This week

We have two separate laboratories and the journey from one to the other is about ~100m. Up to now we have used only the old lab, now we have a new experiment to set up and we require a more stable temperature environment - the new lab does the trick apparently (but we haven’t tested the temperature fluctuations with the equipment actually in the lab yet!)

So first thing is first - move one of the work tables from the old lab to the new. Sounds easy, it’s not. We call in ‘Team Hector the Director’, I ask the stoutest member of the moving team, ‘What sort of things do you usually move?’, to which he answers in a strong Australian accent, ‘Anything heavy’. Good we have the right people in for this job as the table is 12ft x 4ft and weighs close to 1 ton. Credit where credit is due, they did a superb job and in under 90 minutes!

Today was our turn. All we had to do was move a laser. Again sounds easy, it’s not. It took three physicists and a rickety old trolly over 3 hours all in all. 

Film Review - Twlight

Made in America, Bill Bryson

The ultimate combination of social and sporting activities.

Step 1.

Take the scenic route around campus to the City Cat ferry port. Along the lakeside walk, through hidden gardens and over little bridges passing and enjoying the wild turkeys, possums and lizards on the way.

Step 2.

Board the high speed river ferry service ($5.00 for all zones) to the other side of town. Watch the sunset as you meander down the river and the speed induced breeze plays that whooshing sound which enhances the thrill of the ride.

Step 3.

Arrive at Kangaroo Point, a once abandoned quarry now an active climbing center. The face sits 25m or so from the river bank and stretches for about 250m along it. During the day the wall is not so busy, the heat and humidity render the sport practically unbearable for most climbers, at night however, the site is transformed. Fifty, maybe more, climbers gather along its foot to enjoy the floodlit wall from dusk till dawn. Myself and Bojan were looking for the University climbing club but were unsuccessful. Not to worry, a local offered us his rope and we climbed with that.

Oh, and it’s free of charge. Always.

Step 4.

Climb. The climbs number over 200 and range from very easy to insanely hard (so I’m told) so something to do for everyone. Get to the top and you can take in that beautiful river view. Across the river is the central business district, which at night is lit up a treat and looks superb!

Step 5.

Meet random people. A few guys slacklining invited (well I sort of invited myself) us to join in. Slacklining in the warm Australian evening with a river view to top it off - golden.

Step 6.

Play the didgeridoo. No night is complete without a practice on an ancient aboriginal musical instrument… is it?

Home.

Why so much gender confusion throughout the lyrics of Black Kids songs?

Bearing in mind these lyrics are sung by a guy…

1. I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

Opening line;

You are the girl that I’ve been dreaming
of ever since I was a little girl.

2. Hurricane Jane

20 seconds in;

…Oh, you’ve been playing nice,
but I can see it in your eyes,
you’re thinking, “Christ.
He’s everybody’s girl.”

Perhaps I’m missing something here, a hidden joke maybe?

:-p

So if I carry on my membership with the Institute of Physics as an associate member they will forward my monthly subscription of Physics World to my home address in Brisbane, Australia.

Sweeeeeeeeeeet.

Roger red hat.

From time to time I will stumble across a video on YouTube that deserves the love and attention of quantumbrain.info.

Here is my first one:

Not that I ever knew the guy, but I’d imagine this is what Feynman would have done in a similar situation (and for those who know him George Rowlands also).

I can’t get enough of Richard’s reaction afterward. Bless him.

Enjoy.

This guy has to go down in the Countdown Hall of Legends.

My profile id for facebook.

Nothing special right, but then I got playing with the numbers and look:

My age -

6+1+3+0+5+1+4+2 = 22

My Birthday -

31/0(5+1+1)/(4×2)6

Numbers of my last three homes (including the one I’m currently in) -

10 Jesmond Road, 51 Park Hill, (6×2x3)-4=32 Dalehouse Lane

Degrees in two full rotations of a circle -

6×1x3×5x1×4x2 = 720

… OK I cheated a little there, but what’s even more amazing is that if you included the 0…

Number of people who atually care about this post -

6×1x3×0x5×1x4×2 = 0

Aren’t numbers fun?!

Links

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61305142